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distinctive feature
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noun Linguistics.
a feature of the sound system of a language that serves as the crucial distinguishing mark between two phonemes, as the distinctive feature of voicing, which distinguishes b from p in English, or nasality, which distinguishes m from b and p.
any of a set of phonetic properties, as coronal, nasal, or strident, serving as a basic unit of phonological analysis by which the sounds that are significant in a language can be characterized and distinguished from one another.
a component or phonetic feature characterizing a phoneme.
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Origin of distinctive feature
First recorded in 1925–30
Words nearby distinctive feature
distillery, distillment, distinct, distinction, distinctive, distinctive feature, distinctiveness ratio, distinctly, distingué, distinguée, distinguish
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022